09/08/2025
If I clean your home for 4 hours and charge $200. I’m not making $50/hr.
You’re forgetting the time involved in preparing for the clean, and for the after clean. I have to wash and dry (usually air/hang dry then fluff in the dryer) cleaning cloths, glass cloths, mop heads, steamer pads, and brushes/tools I use in your home. I have to pull apart, clean and sanitize the vacuums and filters used in your home and put them back together. I have to fill my cleaning supplies and sanitize the bottles. My cleaning bag, knee pads and indoor shoes need to get sanitized too. I have to load and unload these things into my car on a daily basis (even in the winter 😉)and when I’ve got more then one house a day everything is doubled for me. By time i get home, I’m wiped but I’ve gotta unload and prep for the next morning. A lot of people don’t think about everything that goes into one clean and it’s a lot! All of these things are taken into consideration when I give a quote. Then I’ve also gotta deduct 30% off the top of that $200 for taxes. I take a percentage off for insurance and the cost of supplies/equipment. I understand everyone has to drive to work so when people hear “gas” being an expense they think it’s silly because, well we all need gas to get to work. But sometimes gas is an expense because I’ve got 2 or 3 cleans in a day and unfortunately I couldn’t schedule them next door to each other. Sometimes they were 25-30 minutes apart from each other because that’s just how it worked out (in the winter I have to let my car warm up a bit so for multiple cleans that’s more gas). Once I do finally get home, unload, get started with the after clean and prepping for the next day, I still have my family and home to care for. I work to help support my family too. After making dinner and spending time with my kids, I work on invoicing, estimates, marketing, scehdiling, place orders, and research, because I’m always trying to improve.
I absolutely love what I do, please don’t get me wrong! I just get a little frustrated when I see and hear people say that they went to college and don’t make $50/hr.
Guess what, I went to college too and I don’t make $50/hr.
After it’s all said and done that $200 for 4 hours of work is actually about half that price for double the time.
$200-30% = $60 (taxes)
$200-$60 = $140
$140-$5 = $135 (insurance)
$135/6 = $22.50/hr
(At least 2 hours of prep and after clean added)
I did not add the cost of supplies/equpiment. Or the cost of electricity /gas/water for washing cloths/mop heads/pads. I did not include any time I spend doing research, marketing, scheduling etc. or the price for using the apps I need for those things.
I did not include the ever debated concept of “gas”.
I hope this helps some to see the actual breakdown of where that $50/hr goes because it certainly isn’t in my pocket.